Diego Maradona blasted Argentina soccer federation (AFA) president Julio Grondona and national team manager Carlos Bilardo (who coached him on Argentina’s 1986 World Cup championship team) for plotting to get him fired as national team coach. “Grondona lied to me. Bilardobetrayed me,” Maradona claimed.
argentina
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Messi to play for Argentina at Ireland
Barcelona star Lionel Messi was included in the Argentina squad that will face Ireland on Aug. 11 in Dublin. The team will be coached by Sergio Batista, a coach of Argentina’s youth team. He was named interim coach on Tuesday following the dismissal of DiegoMaradona.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Top choice not likely replace Maradona
[ARGENTINA] The 21-month tenure of Diego Maradona as Argentina national team coach is over. Now comes the task offinding a replacement. Like Brazil, whose first choices were unavailable when it came time to replace World Cup coach Dunga, Argentina’s most popular coachwon’t likely get the job because of conflicts with Julio Grondona, the boss of […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Well said … Or not so well said
[BEST OF THE WORLD CUP] Death threats downplayed, profane insults, gentle jibes, and plain silliness are included in our selection of memorable quotes from the2010 World Cup. … Hoping that’s true“In our language, ‘I’ll kill you’ means ‘I’m not happy with you.’” — Nigeria national team spokesman Idah Peterside down plays more than a thousand […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Rooney, the worst of the worst
[FLOPS] One after another, the world’s biggest stars flopped on the biggest stage, beginning with Englishman WayneRooney. For a ranking of the World Cup flops (which excludes players still in the tournament) … 1. WAYNE ROONEY. How did Rooney go from themost feared striker in the English Premier League to a non-factor for England at […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Messi exits South Africa without a goal
[REACTION] This was supposed to be the World Cup at which Lionel Messi would prove his critics wrong. He would duplicatethe success with Argentina he has had with Barcelona. But the 23-year-old star was left in tears after Argentina fell to Germany, 4-0, in Saturday’s quarterfinals. He was not a factor in the game andfinished […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying
“I was a boy and I didn’t really realize the importance of things. I will be 50 on Oct. 30. I’m mature and this is the toughest moment of my life. Having so many great players,this is really like a kick in the face. I have no more energy for anything.” — Argentina coach Diego […]
Posted inSpecial Edition, Story
Germans soar into semifinals
[GERMANY-ARGENTINA] This World Cup’s most exciting team reassured us that attacking soccer pays off. The Germans scored 158 seconds after kickoff, never stoppedgoing forward, and routed Argentina 4-0 in Cape Town to advance to the semifinals. What we liked … — Germany reached the WorldCup semifinals for a record 12th time and for the second […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
South Americans out to make history
[QUARTERFINALS] Will the prospect of an all-South American final four materialize, or can Ghana break new ground by punching through to the semifinals? Either would be a first. South American nations have contested the final only twice (in 1930 and 1950), and never have they filled all four semifinal slots. Cameroon lost to England, 3-2, […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
My World Cup: The Beautiful Game — from Argentina, not Brazil
By Paul Gardner The eternal question in soccer — I suppose in any sport, for that matter — is: what do the fans want to see? Very easy to answer on ashallow, short-term basis. They want to see their team win. Looked at with more thought, and taking a wider view of the sport, that […]